Out of Focus. Another Vision of Art

From 17 September to 12 April 2026, the CaixaForum Madrid space will host an exhibition that explores the concept of blurriness in art, from haziness and impreciseness as expressive elements.

Monet’s Water Lilies series introduced the concept of blurriness into art and this exhibition analyses how this phenomenon became a new way of understanding the world for later artists. A key to reinterpreting aspects of modern and contemporary visual art.

Long considered to be similar to abstract painting, this series has also been a forerunner of major immersive installations. However, the blurred and out-of-focus effect that characterises the large expanses of water on the canvases had never been analysed and is now seen as a real aesthetic choice.

Taking the aesthetic roots of blurriness in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a starting point, followed by the intellectual, scientific, social and artistic revolutions that led to Impressionism, this exhibition, designed by the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris in collaboration with the ”La Caixa” Foundation, is divided into several sections. They bring together paintings, videos, photographs and installations by different artists, such as Alberto Giacometti, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Eva Nielsens, Claude Monet, Thomas Ruff, Alfredo Jaar, Soledad Sevilla, Christian Boltanski, Mame-Diarra Niang and Bill Viola, among others.

Image Credits:

• Alfredo Jaar, Six Seconds, 2001. © Alfredo Jaar, VEGAP, Madrid, 2025
• Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sea of Japan, Hokkaido, 1987. ”La Caixa” Foundation’s Collection of Contemporary Art © Hiroshi Sugimoto
• Pedro G. Romero, Sodoma and Gomorra (Nuclear, Lot, Door of Hell), 1989. ”La Caixa” Foundation’s Collection of Contemporary Art © Pedro G. Romero